Finance

American Express Profit Gets Boost From Holiday Shopping

Customers wait in line outside a store on Black Friday in New York.

Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg
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American Express Co. profits increased 12% as well-heeled consumers spent more than analysts expected on their credit cards over the holidays, a tailwind the firm said it expects will continue.

Billed business, or the transaction volume on credit cards and other products issued by the firm, rose 8% to $408.4 billion in the fourth quarter. Fourth-quarter net income of $2.17 billion, or $3.04 a share, slightly missed estimates.